SALT LAKE CITY — The Bureau of Land Management’s Salt Lake field office has released a plan to ensure public safety and protect cultural resources by restricting target shooting on an area in the eastern Lake Mountains.
In recent years, shooting incidents have threatened residential homes, schoolchildren and other members of the public. Additionally, ancient rock art in the area has been irreparably damaged from shooting.
The plan supports a long-term target shooting closure on approximately 2,000 acres of public lands, which would replace and expand the temporary 900-acre closure that has been in place since 2012. Even with an expanded closure area, 7.5 million acres in the BLM’s West Desert District would remain open to responsible target shooting.
“This proposed plan balances the need to protect public safety and cultural resources while also providing for areas that are open and accessible for public target shooting in the eastern Lake Mountains area,” Ed Roberson, director of the BLM in Utah, said in a statement.
To help meet target shooting demands in the area, the BLM transferred 160 acres of public land to Utah County earlier this year to develop the Soldier Pass Shooting Range in the southeastern Lake Mountains.
Utah County has arranged for the National Guard to begin construction this spring with completion planned in summer 2017. The new shooting range is less than 3 miles from the current closure area.
The proposed plan is open for a 30-day protest period ending Jan. 13. Any person who participated in the planning process or has an interest that may be adversely affected by the decisions may lodge a protest.
To learn more about filing a protest go to blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/planning/planning_overview/protest_resolution/filinginstructi ons.html.